1. Confidentiality Statements and Copyright Notices on Communications
RevCom operates in an open manner. To that end, no material submitted to RevCom will be accepted or considered if it contains any statement that places any burden on the recipient(s) with respect to confidentiality or copyright. Any communication, including electronic mail, containing language with such restrictive wording will not be accepted or considered. Submittal packages containing such communication will be returned to the submitter. Resubmission shall be in compliance with ordinary deadlines applicable to submittal packages.

It should be noted that this policy does not apply to IEEE copyrighted materials, such as draft standards. In the event that copyrighted materials are to be incorporated in an IEEE standard, acceptable copyright permission (license, release or, assignment) must be obtained from the copyright owner prior to approval of the standard by the IEEE-SA Standards Board (See IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual4.1.1.5).

2. Changes to Balloted Drafts Prior to IEEE-SA Standards Board Approval
If, during the review process, RevCom concludes that post-balloting changes are proposed (e.g., changes from mandatory coordination bodies) which are both non-editorial and required, the draft and proposed changes will be returned to the Sponsor for appropriate action.

RevCom concludes the changes are required
(e.g., the Sponsor has agreed they are required, or a Coordinating body has 'required' changes and RevCom agrees)

RevCom concludes the changes are substantive
(e.g., the Sponsor has stated they are technical, or Staff feels they are technical and RevCom agrees)

3. Practice regarding recommendation for Conditional Approval
Recommendation for conditional approval of a proposed standard is sometimes granted by RevCom when documentation of an action is required of the Sponsor and it is not included in the submittal to RevCom. This is done when it seems that all of the requirements of the IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual have been met with the exception of documentation of one or two actions. The recommendation for conditional approval is granted by RevCom contingent on confirmation from the RevCom Administrator that the Sponsor has completed the required action(s) in accordance with the I IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual .

If the documentation is not received by the RevCom Administrator by the submittal deadline of the next RevCom meeting, the proposed standard is returned to the Sponsor disapproved, and a new submittal of the document will be required.

The official approval date will be determined by the date the information is received and/or once staff/RevCom review is complete.

4. Procedural Changes and Grandfathering for Proposed Standards
The IEEE-SA Standards Board Bylaws and the IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual are regularly updated, as necessary. While these changes may alter the procedures required to be followed during the standards development process, each separate action is grandfathered to the procedure in place at the time the action was initiated.

Therefore, RevCom evaluates each action against the IEEE-SA Standards Board Bylaws and the IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual in effect at the time of the action.

5. Recirculation Ballots in Progress at the Submittal Deadline (15/10 Day Practice)
A project may be placed on the RevCom agenda if a recirculation ballot is in progress at the submittal deadline. This is called the active recirculation ballot.

The project will be considered by RevCom only if all preconditions and required conditions for the active recirculation ballot have been met.

Preconditions:

The Project has achieved the required approval, return, and abstention rates as of the last ballot conducted prior to the submittal.

The initial submission to RevCom included the recirculated draft and all RevCom submission documents.

The initial submission met the submission deadline.

The active recirculation ballot (i.e., intended to be the last such ballot) started no later than the submittal deadline.

Required conditions for the active recirculation ballot:

No additional valid negative votes were received prior to the close of the active recirculation ballot. Additional negatives on prior issues are allowed, provided the 75% approval rate is achieved. A valid negative vote is one that meets the requirements of the IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual 5.4.3.2, 5.4.3.3, and 5.4.3.4.

Comment resolutions (if any) for the active recirculation ballot are submitted 15 days before the RevCom meeting.

The RevCom Administrator will forward the results of the active recirculation ballot to the members of RevCom no later than 10 days before the RevCom meeting.

6. Resolution of Negative Ballots
A Sponsor commitment to make a change in a future revision to resolve a negative ballot will cause the submittal to be rejected.

If the Sponsor and negative balloter agree to consider the negative comments at the next revision without a commitment to make a change to the document under consideration, and the balloter then changes his or her vote to affirmative or abstain, no recirculation is needed since there is no commitment to revise the document.

If the Sponsor commits to make a future change to resolve the negative ballot, then RevCom should remind the Sponsor it cannot make such a commitment - only the future balloting group can make such a commitment. An informed negative balloter should recognize that the Sponsor has no authority to make such a commitment. A recirculation ballot is needed on the unresolved negative issue, including Sponsor rebuttal.

7. Mentored Project Submittals
For submittals that do not receive RevCom approval, a member of RevCom may be assigned to the Sponsor as a mentor. The mentor will assist the Sponsor in understanding the procedures of the IEEE-SA Standards Board and the RevCom Conventions.

The mentor, acting as a representative of RevCom, will assist the Sponsor in understanding RevCom's reasons for not approving the submittal; will assist the Sponsor in implementing the action(s) that RevCom has suggested; and will attempt to ensure that actions taken conform to procedures. The mentor will supply status reports to RevCom. If six months pass and there is no contact between the Sponsor and the mentor or if one year passes and the Sponsor does not take any action regarding the project, then the project will be dropped from RevCom's mentored projects list.

8. Definitions for Abstain and Recuse
Abstain: The term abstain only applies to the decision to not vote on the item by indicating that the individual abstains from the voting and does not address the individual's participation in discussion about the item. Thus, when an individual abstains on a committee agenda item, he or she indicates that he or she is not voting on the item but may participate in the discussion of the item.

Recuse: When an individual recuses from a committee agenda item, he or she does not vote on the item and takes no part in the discussion unless requested to provide clarification by the RevCom Chair. Since the person may be considered a subject matter expert by other members of the committee, the Chair may ask an individual that recuses to provide information with respect to the item under consideration. The person's vote remains recuse even if the person responds to a request for information.